A Shove in the Right Direction
by DepressingGreenie
Summary: Everyone was sick of it, but he was the only one ready to do something about it. [Stony/Steve x Tony] #Mutual Pining, #Canon Divergence, #Attempt at Humour, #Idiots in Love, #Artist Steve Rogers, #Cap-IM Holiday Exchange, (Community Gift for the '2019 Cap-Iron Man Holiday Exchange')


Bucky decides to be blunt after a while. He could see that all his hints were getting them nowhere. He could write it out on the walls and the two of them would still miss it.

It was ridiculous and beyond insufferable. Everyone else feels the same. Something had to be done before it began to effect the team any further. But, It was only himself who had the guts to do anything about it. Even Natasha wouldn't do anything, stating that 'they have to work this out themselves'.

Like hell that would happen.

He knows Steve. He knows he won't let himself have something good, lest it come back to bite him. He gets the same vibes off Tony.

Neither of them were going to make the first move so he was going to make it for them.

So he messed up his arm and went to Tony, a plan in his head. Getting Tony to do something was easier than getting Steve to do something. …_Marginally_.

He sits stiffly in Tony's chair as the man works on his arm. All he needed to give Tony the right motivation. Curiosity.

Bucky keeps his gaze straight ahead and avoids Tony's eyes. Whereas he would normally talk to Tony he keeps silent.

The silence only lasts 17 minutes. Longer that he thought it would.

"Should I be worried?" Tony asks, he doesn't look up from the work he was doing on his arm.

"What?" he asks, sounding as vague as he possibly could.

Tony looks up from his arm, his eyes full of caution. "You're not…? Uhhh, Wintering are you?"

Bucky takes a deep breath in and continues to stare at a point on the wall "No."

There is a pause. "Cool. Good" Tony says.

Silence.

"So?" Tony asks, going back to work on his arm.

"So?" he echoes.

Tony sighs beside him. "Alright. Alright. I get it. If you don't want to talk, you don't want to talk. Far be it for me to dive into your psyche"

He takes another deep breath, trying to keep the smile of his face. Got him. "No. it… fine. Not bad… really… just…" He has Tony hooked now.

The multi-tool pauses in his arm. "Just…?"

"Hmm? Oh, just something I saw" he says, reeling Tony in further.

Tony laughs softly beside him. "Internet, huh?"

"No" he says simply.

The man beside his stops and looks at him. Everything from his posture to his expression screams curiosity and interest. They are past the point of no return now. If he stops, Tony will stop at nothing to find out what is going on.

But that would take too long, and everyone was long since tired of Tony and Steve awkwardly dancing around one another. Tired of hearing both of them go on about how they missed their chance long ago, that all they could ever have was being friendship. How the other is too good or too smart for them. How there was too much hurt between them to even consider there ever being a possibility for more between them. Sick of the longing looks and almost touches between the two.

No. Time to move forward.

Bucky looks over at Tony then returns his gaze to the wall. "I… Steve said something, and I wanted… I didn't understand the context. Why Steve would…" He says.

He sighs sadly before continuing on, "He's changed a lot from the man I knew. Sadder, darker, grittier. I thought if I…"

Tony is perched right on the edge of his seat, leaning in. "I thought you said this wasn't bad." He says. "This is sounding kind of heavy. What did you do?"

"I thought if I looked through his art book, I might get an idea…" Tony sucks in a deep breath,

"No…" Tony says, sounding horrified "Did he catch you? Did you fight? Is that why you are so off today?" he rushes through his words.

"No," Bucky says slowly, carefully. He strains his words, making himself sound as if all this is hard to get out. As if he is unsure about divulging this to him. "It was just something I saw. Something that makes it rather hard to look you in the eye right now"

Tony blinks at him, "What?!"

Bucky closes his eyes and sighs. "I shouldn't tell you." He says.

If it was even possible, Tony moves in closer. There is a hit of desperation mixed in with the curiosity in his eyes. "Ah, but you already read his dairy, so to speak, what more could you do". It was hard not to smile, really hard.

"It's not about that." He says in explanation, "No, it was about you"

Everything went quiet again. Forget pins, you could have heard dust settle it was that quiet. He could almost see the gears turning in the genius' head, working hard to process what he had just herd.

"Me?" Tony says in shock, his eyes wide.

Bucky turns and looks the man dead in the eyes. "You wouldn't believe the amount of porn you feature in in Steve's art" He says matter of fact.

"WHAT?" Tony cries in shock.

Bucky smiles. Got him. Now this was all in Steve's hands now.

Problem solved.

* * *

_**The End**_

Notes: For the Cap-Iron Man Holiday Exchange 2019.  
Prompt: Bucky gets Steve and Tony together after CW (MCU Canon)


End file.
